Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most important protozoa parasites worldwide. Although many seroprevalence studies have been performed in domestic and wild species, data on the cumulative incidence and the spatial distribution of T. gondii in animals are extremely scarce. In the present study, dogs from Botucatu municipality, São Paulo state, were followed for one year and their blood samples were collected on three moments: days 1, 180, and 360. The sera were submitted to the immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) to detect IgG antibodies to T. gondii. Age and sex were compared with IFAT results through statistical tests. Spatial analysis was used to detect clusters of seropositive dogs. Among the 350 dogs that were seronegative on day 1, 53 became seropositive in subsequent samplings; thus, cumulative incidence was 15.1% exposed dogs/year. Age and sex were not associated with serological results. The spatial analysis revealed that seropositive dogs were distributed in all the studied areas, with a significant cluster in a zone with poor sanitary conditions and low socioeconomic status. T. gondii is frequent and widely distributed in the urban area of Botucatu, and impoverished areas are possibly associated with high levels of environmental contamination by this parasite.
Highlights
Few parasites are as prevalent and generalist as Toxoplasma gondii
The aims of the present study were to access the cumulative incidence and the spatial distribution of dogs exposed to T. gondii through detection of IgG antibodies
The 15.1% incidence rate in Botucatu demonstrates the dynamic of T. gondii exposure in dogs, providing new and quantitative data on the epidemiology of this parasite in the urban area of a mid-sized Brazilian city
Summary
Few parasites are as prevalent and generalist as Toxoplasma gondii. It can infect virtually all warm-blooded species and cause a wide spectrum of health disorders. Cumulative incidence can be defined as the number of seropositive (exposed) animals over a specific period of time, which provides valuable information on the exposure to pathogens from a chronologic viewpoint. Such assessment is hard to execute mainly owing to the difficulties in sampling animals more than once and following them for long periods. Considering the valuable data obtained from longitudinal surveys, we believe they should be more encouraged These remarks led us to conceive the present study
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